Here's a peek at the incredibly detailed diary Heath Ledger kept to play the Joker in 'The Dark Knight'

Heath Ledger went to
extreme lengths to prepare for his Oscar winning performance as
the Joker in "The Dark Knight."Warner
Bros via YouTube

The late Heath Ledger won an Oscar for playing the Joker in "The
Dark Knight" for good reason. His committed performance brought
the iconic comic book to character to life in the most terrifying
way imaginable.

Ledger passed away in January 2008, unfortunately unable to see
the remarkable impact his performance had.

A clip from the documentary "Too Young to Die"
has surfaced, and it gives a brief glimpse into Ledger's method
for immersing himself in the Joker's madness.

This clip reveals the diary Ledger kept as he prepared for
the role, which Ledger's father Kim looks through. To prepare to
play Batman's greatest foe, Ledger locked himself up in a hotel
room and then in his apartment for around a month.

The diary says a lot about both how Ledger felt during those
days, as well as his many influences for the part.

In the notebook, an image of a hyena is visible:

Broadview
Pictures

Perhaps this inspired his laugh, which often has a hyena-like
quality to it:

The notebook is filled with dialogue from the film that
Ledger jotted down. He even wrote down all of his dialogue for
the entire hospital room
scene:

Broadview
Pictures

In this scene, Ledger memorably wears a nurse's outfit. In this
clip, Kim notes that Heath's sister Kate used to dress him
up in a nurse's outfit.

In the notebook, you might notice one figure that constantly pops
up:

Broadview
Pictures

You can see it again on another page:

Broadview
Pictures

That is none other than Alex DeLarge (Malcolm McDowell) of
Stanley Kubrick's masterpiece "A Clockwork Orange" from 1971.

In "A Clockwork Orange," Alex DeLarge is the leader of a
gang that inflicts random horrible acts on unsuspecting citizens.
Alex rapes, steals, and fights others for the fun of it. He sure
does sound a lot like the Joker, a villain who simply wants
"to watch
the world burn."

Ledger was even able to flawlessly replicate that terrifying
expression, often called the "Kubrick
Stare."